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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26796823">Better</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellenmillion/pseuds/ellenmillion'>ellenmillion</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Trek: The Next Generation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 11:54:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>263</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26796823</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellenmillion/pseuds/ellenmillion</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The prompt was: Star Trek: TNG, Riker &amp;/ Troi (gen or ship equally great), "I need a hug"</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>William Riker/Deanna Troi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Hold Me: A Comfort Prompfest</td></tr>

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<a name="section0001"><h2>Better</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/sixbeforelunch/gifts">sixbeforelunch</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There weren’t enough replicators in the entire Federation to make sufficient chocolate for a day like this, Deanna thought, trying not to stagger down the corridor.</p><p>Her work was fulfilling, satisfying, but some days were harder than others. Those days, she was juggling other people’s pain and uncertainty until all of her mental wells were full, and even if she sent them off feeling better, she was drained to her toes, weirdly hollow even while she was drowning in the memory of emotions that weren’t her own.</p><p>The door panel gave its cheerful blurble and Will’s voice from within invited, “Come in!”</p><p>“I need a hug,” she said, but they were unnecessary words, because he was already standing and spreading his arms.</p><p>Deanna didn’t know if it was because he was her imzadi that he knew her so well, but all that mattered at the moment was his embrace, strong and gentle.</p><p>Will was popular with women for many reasons: his teasing grin and confidence, his dashing good looks, his skills between the sheets. But for Deanna, more than any of those, it was his empathy she loved, his completely mundane skill at putting together physical cues and caring enough to look for them.</p><p>That, and his hugs; they were the perfect blend of holding her up and putting her back together, completely unselfconscious, not asking for anything in return but the completely platonic comfort of her body.</p><p>She felt herself relax, rebalance, recenter, and he knew exactly when to let go.</p><p>“Better?” he asked.</p><p>She smiled at him gratefully. “Better,” she agreed.</p>
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